Bob Todd
Bob Todd was an English comedy actor, mostly known for his appearances on "The Benny Hill Show," where he was mostly known for playing abusive police officers, inebriates, priests and occasionally female characters in drag. His recurring characters include Mamood Ramsun and Johnny Craddock, the husband of TV chef, Fanny Craddock, played by Benny Hill. Born Brian Todd on December 15, 1921 in Faversham, Kent, he had originally studied to be a dentist, his schooling interrupted by World War Two. During the war, he enlisted in the Royal Air Corp and worked as a navigator stationed at RAF Goxhill in Lincolnshire. After the war, he became a manager at London Airport, later turning his ambitions toward farming and cattle breeding, an aspect that left him broke after meeting a con-artist. In 1963, Todd met script-writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson in a pub and bluffed them into believing that he was an actor. As a result, he ended up with the part of a policeman in the 1960s Sid James comedy series, "Citizen James." The subterfuge worked well for him, and he ended up playing several characters in the Milligan and John Antrobus stage play, "The Bed-Sitting Room," which opened at the Mermaid Theatre on January 31, 1963. He also performed comedy bits on "The Dick Emery Show" and "The Mike and Bernie Winters Show" amongst others, eventually joining "The Benny Hill Show" in 1968. On the series, Bob played a wide range of random recurring characters, mostly appearing as a proper gentleman, a woman in drag, as a number of religious characters and as a number of drunken inebriates. Ironically, Todd also had a recurring drinking problem during the series, once failing to turn up for a London Palladium show after a bout of drinking and waking up afterward in a Dublin hospital five days later. Benny Hill had Todd dropped from the show as a result, but producer Dennis Kirkland convinced Hill to hire Todd back after a long absence. Afterward, Todd had greater control over his drinking so that it never interfered with his work, but he never entirely gave up on it. Besides appearing on "The Benny Hill Show," Todd did other projects while the show was on hiatus. His only starring film role was in "In for a Penny" in 1972. He also appeared on "Funny Man," "The Eric Sykes Show" and "Rhubarb Rhubarb" in 1980, as well as making guest appearances on shows by Jim Davidson and Allan Stewart and Spike Milligan's "Q9." He also appeared in a number of feature films, such as "Carry On Again, Doctor," "The Return of the Musketeers," "Mutiny on the Buses," "The Case of the Black Hand," "Scars of Dracula," "Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World" with Benny co-star Henry McGee and "Superman III" with Ronnie Brody in 1983. After "The Benny Hill Show" was cancelled in 1998, Todd returned to work with Benny Hill in Benny Hill's World Tour: New York, filming interior scenes for a pilot for a brand new series with the original cast. Sadly, after Benny passed away in April 1992, the new series never came to be. Todd was unable to attend the funeral and instead toasted to his memory in a British pub. He passed away himself six months later on October 21, 1992, survived by his wife, Monica, daughter and two sons. Episode(s) * The Underwater World of Jacques Custard * Undercover Sanitary Inspector * Cinema: The Vintage Years * Fun in the Kitchen with Johnny and Cranny Faddock * News at Ten with Reginald Boozenquet * Benny's All-Star Finale * Down Memory Lane * Woodstick * The Common Market Square Dance * Jackie Wright's Holiday * The Dalton Abbott Railway Choir * Coal-Pits * Spot Black * The Great British Dancing Finals * Film Time at the National Film Theater * Gavin Blod - The Man and his Music * Great Mysteries with Orson Buggy * Murder on the Oregon Express * Sale of the Half-Century * Women's Lib TV * Butch Cafferty and the Fundance Kid * Name That Tune * WonderGran Meets Dr. Jackal and Mr. Hyde * A Tribute to the Lower Tidmarsh Volunteer Fire Brigade * Big Poppa * The Monte Carbolic Show * Talking Point * Super-Teech * Holiday * Scuttle-Vision * The Hot Shoe Show * The B-Team * Forever Love * Carmen * R. Dibble: Handyman * The Herd * Cagney and Lacey * The Halitosis Kid * Club Chicago-Go * The Crook Report * Holding Out for a Hero * Pepy's Diary * Benny Hill's World Tour: New York Gallery 3benny11.jpg 3benny9.gif 3benny888.jpg 3benny59.jpg Benny111.jpg Fishing14.PNG Fishing13.PNG Jon2.jpg 1bob_todd.jpg 00bob todd9.jpg Tbhs679.PNG Tbhs879.PNG Poster24.PNG Poster31.PNG Keep2.PNG soho15.JPG blod12.PNG Dan18.JPG Dan19.JPG Dan20.JPG blod27.PNG 00dungeon.JPG 00bob todd6.JPG Elsie18.JPG Kung10.JPG Kung11.JPG Kung13.JPG Loser07.JPG Loser09.JPG Loser17.JPG Grange15.JPG Grange22.JPG Wonder10.JPG Wonder29.JPG Wonder32.JPG Wonder33.JPG 00bob todd45.JPG 00bob todd49.JPG 00bob todd65.JPG Bizarre06.JPG Bizarre10.JPG Fingers02.JPG Fingers22.JPG Drunk05.JPG Holiday009.JPG Fingers02.JPG Paso20.JPG Paso21.JPG Mess02.JPG Mess12.JPG 00bob todd045.JPG Bucket04.JPG Bucket14.JPG Passion13.JPG 00bob t67.JPG Uplift17.JPG 00bob todd.JPG 00jon.jpg ---- Category:Actors Category:Deceased Actors Category:Regular Cast Members Category:1970 Cast Members Category:1971 Cast Members Category:1972 Cast Members Category:1973 Cast Members Category:1974 Cast Members Category:1975 Cast Members Category:1976 Cast Members Category:1980 Cast Members Category:1981 Cast Members Category:1982 Cast Members Category:1983 Cast Members Category:1984 Cast Members Category:1985 Cast Members Category:1986 Cast Members Category:1988 Cast Members Category:1989 Cast Members Category:1994 Cast Member